18
Ness
Just like I’d thought,Alvin had called another pack meeting. My friends told me that I didn’t have to go, but I knew what this was about. If I didn’t go, someone else would get hurt, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that happened.
I needed to be a catalyst. No matter what happened, I would start the change that needed to happen here. My home would become a safe place for shifters, one way or another.
“It’s fine,” I told my friends.
Addie and Vi shared a look. Cerri wasn’t here. She would be on her way to the pack meeting already. If I waited any longer, I would be in trouble. I shuddered to think of what might happen to Cerri if I wasn’t there.
Janessa and Haylee and Kelsey also needed me. I didn’t know about Janessa’s mother. While Catriona said that Janessa’s mother had been run out of town, I suspected that Alvin’s hand in the matter had been far more insidious.
Why else would Janessa’s mother leave without her daughter? Janessa’s mother never came back for her. She never tried to arrange for Janessa to join her. That made me wonder if Janessa had witnessed something that had scarred her for life. That would explain why Janessa startled at the sight of a squirrel.
Did Catriona know what really happened? Or had she convinced herself that her sister just up and left? Either way, I knew that Alvin needed to be stopped. He’d already hurt too many people.
So what if he hurt me? If I died, then maybe the pack would turn against him. He’d already confessed that he feared the possibility of that happening. That was the only reason I was still alive.
My hound thrashed inside of me. Her will to live suffused every inch of my body with thrumming adrenaline. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.
I leapt to my feet. The world swayed. Vi reached out for me, but I held up a hand. She scowled and took me by the elbow anyway.
“You’re in no shape to go there alone,” Vi argued.
Beside her, Addie nodded.
“We go together or not at all.” Vi lifted her chin.
I gave her a grim smile. “No. I’m not going to let you risk falling into your demonic side. Addie, you don’t have any way to defend yourself. You’re about as powerless as Cerri in a situation like this. Just let me do this on my own. I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”
Addie narrowed her eyes at me. “Cerri will be there anyway. If she’s so weak, then why does she get to be there, but I can’t?”
Like it or not, Cerri had been born into the pack. She had to show up because of her family. My friends, however, had no obligation to go anywhere. I could have asked Vi to protect Cerri, but if I allowed Vi to follow along, then I would have to let Addie come. Then Vi would have to look out for two people instead of one.
That was too much to put on one person’s shoulders.
“Let me go alone,” I said, my voice low with a growl threaded through it.
Vi clenched her jaw and stared me down. Fire flashed in her eyes. She stood her ground without flinching until Addie sighed and stepped between us.
“Vi is right,” Addie said to me. “You need backup. Let us help you for once. You don’t always have to do everything alone.”
Didn’t I, though? Not even my pack could muster the strength to stand beside me. I’d been trying to stand on my own for too long. It was all I knew. It’d taught me to use people to my advantage, and I hated that about myself.
I didn’t want to use Ryder. My friends deserved better than someone who would ask them to risk their lives. I wasn’t going to use anyone else ever again. Not even Audra. I would face my challenges on my own two feet so that no one else would get hurt.
Vi seemed to see that. I don’t know how she read me so easily, but she groaned and threw her hands in the air. “Why do you have to be like this? I don’t want you to die, damn it.”
Her words slammed into my chest, forcing the air from my lungs. I gaped at her. Though her declaration shouldn’t have surprised me, it did. Tears burned my own eyes.
Addie stepped away from us, went to the cupboard, and grabbed a loaf of bread. Both Vi and I watched as Addie started making a sandwich. I cocked my head, confused. When she finished, she shoved it into my hands.
“Eat up. Take Vi with you. I’ll stay behind, because I know you’ll both be too worried about me to keep your eyes on the true objective tonight.”
I started to argue, but Addie shot me a glare.
“In the meantime, I’m going to find a body.”